An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

Everyone has heard the adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” and within the world of dentistry, this means good oral home care, eating well, regular dental check ups, cleans and oral x-rays. Doing these simple things go a long way toward avoiding many unnecessary, invasive and costly dental procedures.

Practicing holistic dentistry, I come across some unusual and unorthodox requests. It is not unusual for patients to ask me to restore their teeth with “natural” materials.

This can be challenging even for the best holistic dentist, as many people just simply don’t understand that any restorative dental work requires the use of synthetic products. The very best solution that any dentist can offer their client in these cases would be to use the least toxic product and the least invasive technique of installing it.

All restorative dental work has a knock on effect. To need a filling will require a synthetic composite material to be used and/or the integrity of the tooth strength. Requiring an extraction can leave a gap in your mouth therefore potentially undermining the anchoring of other teeth around the gap. Root canal treatments mean having a “dead” tooth in your mouth and for some people this can cause their immune system to struggle. Implants are very costly and require as much attention and care as regular teeth do. Dentures and bridges can at times be awkward or cumbersome in the oral cavity.

Once a problem sets in all of the above mentioned procedures require some kind of “unnatural” solution. The very best you can do is to protect the teeth you have, because the only “natural” tooth is a whole tooth.

Call us today for your regular dental exam and let us help you to keep your smile natural.